E3 2014: Rollers of the Realm (Hands On)

This one was a bit of a surprise as I toured the Atlus booth. A pinball... RPG. I remember something vaguely similar on the NES way back in the day, but Rollers of Realm was able to fill a desire for a game I didn't know I wanted.

It starts simple enough, the demo opened with me playing as a thief trying to make her way into a kingdom. In order to do this I had use my dog as a distraction, but first I needed to acquire mana by hitting various bumpers on the map. Gold could also be picked up by hitting NPCs that were placed around the map. By getting in to this kingdom, I unlocked a new quest, which relied on my thief's ability to pilfer gold from townspeople in order to move forward. After reaching my goal, a new character appeared, represented by a much larger ball. A drunken knight who managed to upset the town blacksmith was now the target for some ruffians. Taking them out was no easy task, as the thief has lower damage dealing capabilities than the knight.

The next stage showcased how the difference in ball size affects your movement through some stages, as I'd need to switch between the thief and the knight to progress. Rollers of the Realm is definitely a novel idea, and what I played on the show floor certainly felt like a lot of fun. Leave it to Atlus to find one of those quirky games that I'll probably love when it is released later this summer.